BOOK REVIEW: A Spark of Light by Jodi Picoult

The Centre for women's reproductive health offers a last chance of hope- but nobody ends up their by choice.
Its very existence is controversial, and to the demonstrators who barricade the building everyday, the service it offers is no different from legalised murder.
Now life and death decisions are being made horrifyingly real: a lone protester with a gun has taken the staff, patients and visitors hostage.
Starting at the tensest moment in the negotiations for their release, A Spark of Light unravels backwards, revealing hour by hour what brought each of the people- the gunman, the negotiator, the doctors, nurses and women who have come to them for treatment- to this point.
And certainties unwind as truths and secrets are peeled away, revealing the complexity of balancing the right to life with the right to choose. 

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

Pages: 355

I am a big fan of Jodi Picoult's books and her last book, Small Great Things totally blew me away. However, I have very mixed feelings about her latest book, A Spark of Light. I heard the author talking about it on Radio 4 and the idea sounded fantastic but I came away feeling a little disappointed once I had reached the end.
The premise is that a group of people have been taken hostage at a Women's Health Centre by a gun man. In America, women's health centres deal with female reproductive health and they also carry out abortions. This is obviously a highly contentious issue and I was impressed by how far Picoult went in tackling it. She looks at many different angles and viewpoints, religion, gender, age, sexuality, ethics and morality. I do feel that she engaged in the subject well but the book fell down for me by being overly complicated. The story begins with the final negotiations and works its way back, I didn't have a problem with this but the problem was the number of characters involved. I was fully focused when reading but there were so many times when I was too confused to enjoy the story properly. Each character has their own back history which is a fantastic way of examining different view points. But the sheer amount of characters and jumping back and forth took away the impact of the actual story for me which was a shame.
I still felt quite invested in these characters so I was disappointed when there was a lot of loose ends, I didn't even want happy endings for them all but I was looking for some form of conclusion.
For me, A Spark of Light has a fantastic and important core element in the issue it is tackling but I did not feel that it was executed effectively.

BOOK REVIEW WITH THE BOOK PEOPLE: Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult

When a newborn baby dies after a routine hospital procedure, there is no doubt about who will be held responsible: the nurse who had been banned from looking after him by his father.
What the nurse, her lawyer and the father of the child cannot know is how the death will irrevocably change all of their lives, in ways both expected and not.
Small Great Things is about prejudice and power; it is about which divides and unites us.
It is about opening your eyes.

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

Pages: 503

The Book People got in touch to ask if I would like to pick a book from their 'hand-picked favourites' range to review on my blog. To be honest, when I think of The Book People I always think of childrens books or box sets of books etc. So I was pleasantly surprised to look on their website and see that they have a huge selection of fiction novels to choose from. Small Great Things was already on my book wish list so I chose that; they sent me a beautiful hardback edition and I can honestly say that it is one of the best books I have ever read.
My experience of Jodi Picoult is limited to her earlier books such as My Sister's Keeper and Vanishing Acts which I really enjoyed. Small Great Things, published in 2016 garnered huge attention; it was a New York Times bestseller and was chosen as a Richard and Judy Book Club choice in 2017.
We follow the story of Ruth Walker who is accused of killing a newborn baby. Davis Bauer died after a routine procedure, his father Turk Bauer had requested that Ruth did not not touch his son, simply because Ruth is black. Turk now holds Ruth responsible for his son's death. Her world is turned upside down, the racism and prejudice she has experienced her whole life comes together in this charge against her. Kennedy McQaurrie is Ruth's defence attorney, despite Ruth's protestations, Kennedy does not want this case to be about racism, she wants to ensure that Ruth walks free and justice is served. Ruth, Turk and Kennedy are used by Picoult as separate narrators which is a fantastic technique as it gives the reader an insight into their feelings, doubts and emotions.
Jodi Picoult is very brave to tackle such a huge subject but she does it so well. She must have done so much research in order to bring everything together. I myself am of mixed race and I could identify with points that Picoult made, sometimes the things we don't question are more important than the ones we do.
There's a lot to take in when reading this book but the process of the trial keeps it all on track and centres the reader to the here and now.
Small Great Things is a fantastic read, I really cannot recommend it enough. Jodi Picoult delivers a powerful story with complex characters and a highly thought-provoking plot.

Many thanks to The Book People for sending me a copy of the book to review, have a click on the link in my review to see the fabulous books they have!